"I Am Woman" - Helen Reddy

Good afternoon peeps!! I am a child of the sixties; a time of many defining moments in our country's historical framework. The assassinations of: President John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy. The beginning of the end of segregation and institutional discrimination; the enactment of civil rights legislation and the deaths of civil rights activists of all nationalities. It was a time of  The Black Panthers out of Oakland, CA. The Young Lords out of New York City, and many, many other movements. One particular movement was geared towards women and was labeled, The Women's Liberation Movement. At the time, women were fighting for equality in all areas of  life and were establishing themselves as equally able as men, to do certain jobs, make decisions and be more than just a man's appendage. Now, I ask you...what the hell happened???

In recent years, there have been a plethora of  so-call "reality shows" that seems to have set women back to the pre-liberation movement days!!! The women on these shows act like desperate shrews, who will cut each other's throats to get the prized man! On one such show, the prize was, get this; Flava Flave!! The young women would fight, spit, and act ignorant as all get out to be picked to date Flava. Oh I am not so naive to not realize that their real goal is that proverbial "fifteen minutes", as some actually went on to star on their own "reality" shows. And yes, men have appeared on these types of shows also, supposedly looking for love, wives, etc. Somehow, the women on these shows appear more desperate!

The show The Bachelor, is what motivated me to write this piece. It debuted it's new season last night, for the thirteenth year...wow! I am not a viewer of this show ordinarily, but based on a conversation I heard on a morning talk show, I decided to see what they were talking about this time around, so I watched the episode on Hulu. I already knew the premise: an eligible bachelor gets to pick a potential wife out of a harem of twenty-five women. He gets to size them up the way a potential slave owner probably got to size up slaves, before purchasing them; or the way one sizes up a horse, dog or other animal they wish to own. How degrading! On the other hand, the women; all career women, seem so eager and happy to be there. Each one has dillusions of being "the one." We, the viewers, get to hear snippets of conversation from each woman; sometimes in isolation and sometimes as part of the larger group. The Bachelor gets to "spend time" with each woman, one-on-one. Sounds almost like the function of a brothel to me...but I digress. At the end of each show, The Bachelor decides who gets to stay and leave, by presenting or withholding a rose. As the women anxiously await their fate, the camera moves around panning their faces. Some look pained and pitiful, if each rose given is not for them.

It is at this point that I shake my head and ask myself why these attractive, seemingly intelligent young women, put themselves out there like this. Some appear in agony as their peers receive a rose and sigh a sigh of relief at being "a chosen one." When the final rose is given and they are not chosen, some of these young women react as if their world and reason for being has fallen apart! Even before the rose ceremony, some of the women go through extraordinary lengths to gain favor with the bachelor. One woman, knowing he is a pilot, donned a faux pilot costume. Another brought a toy plane from her seven-year-old son, to give to The Bachelor. (There is something wrong with this picture)! Usually, a token African-American woman or two is put into the mix, but not this time. The only woman of color is a Cambodian woman, who belittles herself by saying something sexually suggestive in her native language: "you can land your plane on my landing strip anytime" The Bachelor himself says equally corny things like, "as long as I let my heart lead, I know I can't go wrong" awwww! Am I a cynic you ask? Well, yes, I am. But I used to be a romantic too! Young ladies, get your self-esteem back and listen to Helen Reddy's anthem of the seventies, I Am Woman!